The wise man built his house upon the rock. When the rain came down and the floods came up, the house stood firm. The wise man knew that if he didn’t have the right foundation, eventually the house would come crashing down. The foolish man built his house upon the sand. When the rain came down and the floods came up, the house came tumbling down. He was confident that nothing would shake his house to the ground. Unfortunately, he was sorely mistaken.
I love the story of the 3 little pigs because the first two pigs didn’t have a clue what was coming. They would also sing, “Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” and go skipping along singing and whistling without a care in the world. Meanwhile, the 3rd pig took his time in planning out what he was going to build and what material he was going to use. He meant business.
The Big Bad Wolf comes to the first pig’s house. The straw house was never going to stand a chance at the huffs and puffs. They run off to the 2nd pig’s house which was built of sticks. They were so confident that the Big Bad Wolf wasn’t going to get them. Again, faulty design, weak foundation. The other 2 pigs ran to the 3rd pig’s house because they had nowhere else to turn to. Their homes were destroyed and they needed shelter!
The same logic applies to personal finance. If you think everything is fine when the next medical bill hits, or your student loan interest spikes, or you feel like you need to take out a personal loan, you will get knocked off your feet. The important thing for you to do if/when that happens is to get up and keep going forward with the plan. Stay focused on the end goal.
If you have any type of debt, you are on shaky ground. If you are out of debt, have an established emergency fund in place, and are investing for the future, you are more likely to weather a storm that comes your way – much like the wise man and the 3rd pig. As Dave Ramsey recently said on one of his podcasts, “Be the third pig.” It is important to have a strong foundation.
How did they build such a strong foundation, you ask? Well, they were intentional. They had a plan and executed it. They each built their house – brick by brick. The same way that you can build your positive financial future – dollar by dollar. It takes time, sacrifice and a lot of hard work. However, your future self will appreciate the diligence you had to fight through early on, in order to enjoy life later on.
Now is the time to get down to business. Brick. By. Brick.
Madsen Financial Coaching 